Liberty

I just happened to read a news post just a little while ago that kinda led me to write this little post....I don't have much time but lest I forget about what I feel...and the feelings pretty strong...so here goes.......
Citywide Shutdown as a Political Leader passes away of Old age - One may perceive this to be less  of a gesture of solidarity and more of an unspoken fear about the repercussions of not complying with the expectations of a group known for its destructiveness...One may only perceive it to be that way...not necessarily believe that...I mean times are bad...and its alright to forgo a day's business worth of money than jeopardize the Entire Business itself...from whatever danger that running it on such a day may pose...Am I too politically correct? I hope so...sincerely...Life's tough as it is...Wouldn't want more!!!... So I too show my Solidarity....I too am a common man. I too bow as a mark of respect. YEAH.

Girls arrested for expressing their sentiments about the Close down on a networking site -   The I.T. Act huh......but we teach our children the Right to Freedom of Expression in our sad Textbooks...Sorry kids...Go with the flow...Yours views, if different from the populist opinions could land not only you but your entire family into trouble...Truckloads of it... Hypocrisy....never mind...

Vandalism - I don't blame the people who do it..they are poor...they get paid for it...Maybe some are unemployed...some could be dead drunks or good for nothing ( at the risk of sounding disrespectful but really guys...no offence)......but poor...they have my sympathy...Not because they destroy public and personal property but because they have to do something so ghastly to feed themselves.

I always wonder who pays them though and why their names never end up in the Paper....

While there are those of us who can silently guess.....There are a quite a few people out there who don't have the time to sit and think...And why is that? -  because the administration has created a situation where the common man is too busy to sit and think about such things......So busy earning a living....Trying to go from one day to another.....Making it work for himself and his family. This guy (or girl for that matter) has the right to know the truth......And as a truly responsible person, he reads the paper in whatever little spare time that his schedule leaves him with.....but sadly.....there's not much the paper can tell.....The press is censored.....so he'll never know....He'll just have to make do with whatever edited , censored news that bearers of truth bring to him, rationalize it and get on with his day.So much for Liberty.

Yours Truly,

RS

My Favorite Kind of People

I Love having Happy people around......People laughing around with Family.....People getting married......People going places......Kinda rubs off on me too......Sure life is full of troubles....Sure we have to take tough times.....But sometimes just running into old friends or hearing from them or meeting people who you know like you...Especially the Happy Old People.....makes you happy.......makes you smile......That's what makes Diwali Happy.....

P.S. I wish People didn't burst Super Loud Crackers.......Just the Firework display is enough to feel happy....and a right bit of sound to make it happening..You know children laughing, the crackling of fireworks, the excitement - gives me the feeling that all is well with the world...but....the loudness just takes away the feeling....leaves me a bit too shaken...... to feel anything at all.... Even Happiness.

Love Google+

I realised I love all the myriad stuff that comes up when I'm Exploring on Google+........It kinda gives me a new lease of Positive Energy.....Gets my mind off the stuff that bothers me but kinda helps me get back on track.....Its like a 10 minute break where I step out and see a lot of stuff all at once..and get back to what I was doing in the first place...Love it...Refreshing!!!!

And it was a Happy Diwali

I'm studying......but its still a Happy Diwali.....I'm Loving it.....I guess the Diyas do it to me everytime...For me Diwali is the Diyas.......and the spirit.......and Family time.....and Studying :)

Old Habits Die Hard

So after Swearing to myself for a hundred times...I still read atleast half a dozen reviews of JTHJ.
So, I didn't know the Story was written by Aditya Chopra....the man hasn't doled out anything remotely interesting post his debut..... Be it Mohobatein or Rab ne Bana di Jodi..... and now....Jab tak hai Jaan...

Each review differs on which one is the better actress....one credits Katrina, another Anoushka, one calls Anoushka an over actor, while another calls the Kat Lack lustre....one even went on to say they were both lost....and another one said They both were Great......but every review has one thing in common.......
This movie belongs to the Guitar-Strumming, Bomb-defusing, Street Dancing, Bike Riding, the ever so Romantic, and Always Alluring SRK. No matter if the story's poor, no matter the Screenplay, No matter the Dragging end.....No matter if SRK's smiling too much.....He's the Central Theme.....And I'd endure a 182 minute movie to watch him in every frame....Just doing his thing....and doing it pretty well.And I bet Yash Chopra wanted it that way......I bet.........

It might get a little mindless...too mindless maybe.....especially the Plot..And I am sure of this even though I've not seen the movie..Its like Aditya Chopra's extra emotional and he kinda lets that play havoc with his storyline everytime....Its like he's trying to express an underlying emotion or something but his reticence interferes with it.....

But one thing I can guarantee is that the Emotions will be worth the while......they will be true ,  real (no matter if the situation is as unreal as it can get) and they will make me forget my Logic and Practical Nature for a while and turn me into an Emotional Fool...albeit temporarily!!!

And so I still think its going to be a Treat.......SEE YOU SOON !!!!

P.S. If you can't stand SRK, his histrionics and the whole thing.......you'd better not watch this one....to all those who go into the movie hall and walk out cribbing about how they can't stand the man.....Please take a break......It isn't SRK, Its you.....He didn't force you to come see the movie.....So stop all the Hating business.....Try some Love instead  (wink wink wink) (smiley smiley smiley)

Memory lanes

Alright , So I'm busy reviewing answers from the qbank and I happen to hear the kids below calling out to one another, bursting crackers and laughing about. There's one kid, lets call her K, her friends are always calling out for her, they never leave her out of anything, and they are always shouting aloud for her to come down and play. She lives right below me, and I study just below the window (if I'd sit by the window, I wouldn't be able to study), so I'm pretty much witness to everything that goes on. She's a sweet one, and smart too....Like that.

Now, that kinda put me in Flashback mode and reminded me of how my friends used to call out for me. It was great.  Every evening, the one who would be down first would start calling out to the others. Well, out of the four of us, 3 were on the same floor, so they pretty much left together. And then the gang would spend all their time, telling me to hurry up, so the action could begin. and I would rush as if it was the biggest emergency of my life. Oh, Loved it so much.

Wish there was some special Memory device that takes me there whenever I feel like it.  To see myself back then and see how I was back then. It was such a long time ago. I remember the Crazy Secret Exploration expeditions to the Marshy Lands. It was great fun, walking in a line along ledges, with dirty sea water on both sides, looking for crabs, and gold fish, and going as far as we could to the dry ground on the other side.We would wonder if a cyclone was coming if it were too windy, and the best part was getting scared as hell and swearing not to go back if  we'd encountered any dangerous looking person out there - I would imagine that if there were Pirates then this would be a great place to hide the booty since the creek was so close and since the whole place was pretty much isolated , and my friends would think that this kind of place was a great place to hide for Murderers and stuff , and so we would postulate but we never stopped going back...until some dirty land owner built a warehouse along the route and it became impossible to go there without entering the stupid warehouse....and this was the end of our adventures to the marshes.

I learnt to ride a bicycle

The dances (I never danced)

Computer games - Roadrash and Sky(something)

Tom and jerry and music videos

Chatting

The card games and Language sessions in the Afternoon in the holidays....Uno, and Donkey Monkey, Gaddha Chor

Picnics in the garden...We were so stupid!!!

Badminton early in the morning and Morning walks....Singing on the road while we walked ( that road's so crowded now...can't even dream about five ppl walking and skipping about together in a row) and Jogging

And me being so sad about not going to Bharadwaj classes with Jisha, neha and Tanu.....and not getting their stories about their sirs and miss's.

And the bhootwala Building on Link road

Pakda pakdi, Dumsharaj, Corner Corner, Dubba Ex spies (that's how we pronounced it), Stop and Party,

And at the end of the day, when we'd all head back together, I would hate it that they'd all get off at 2nd floor  and i'd have to ride the elevator right upto the 6th floor (hahaha)....so the 3 of them would ride the elevator upto the 6th floor..drop me off and then head down....(I was just a year younger than the three of them but they treated me like a kid....the bespectacled serious but funny studious kid )...I  thought it would last forever....but it didn't....we grew up...I don't miss it.....I like being in my Twenties...but I'm glad I have such sweet memories......

To Jisha, Neha, Tanushree  (in alphabetical order)

and Akanksha, Monica, Nikita, Guddu, Purva , Babbu , Dimpi and there were more.....

Jab tak Hai Jaan, The music, The Man and his movies

This one is an Addition to my Previous post About Jab tak hai Jaan....
It may seem like a review but it isn't...Just an extension of my feeling about the music....have been reading a few music reviews to find out which songs are good since I needed a good one to pep me up but I ended up listening to all the songs...I realised I feel differently...  and I had to tell someone....So I guess this comes out here.

So I didn't like the videos of the other new songs when they came in but when I finally got myself to listen to the songs...I was mesmerized...Yes, they are not AR Rahman's signature style melodies but they are much more....
1.Saans...is beautiful...great acoustics and some of the lyrics stayed with me...but the song isn't soul stirring...Not even with  Mohit Chauhan....Shreya Ghoshal is as awesome as always....Haven't heard her Saans solo yet but somehow the song doesn't seem like its meant for her...good music but not fabulous.

 And somehow Are re Are will always remain my favorite Yash Chopra Love song.

  "hum mein tum mein kuch toh hai, kuch nahi hai kya?

Aur kuch ho jaaye toh, kuch yakeen hai kya

Dekh lo yeh Dil jahaan tha, Yeh wahin hai kya"

2.Challa- It was the first to be released and I still haven't gotten over the Street Performer SRK yet...Loving it.Rabbi Shergill...I'm a fan.

3.Jab tak hai jaan- the title track- Some say Udit Narayan would have been a better choice...I'd say...I like Javed Ali...And Shaktishree is melodious and so fresh...An unusual voice...Wow
It feels like an happy ending to something very intense...Sorry the song couldn't be completely shot...but it will remain my Happy song of the album...a culmination of sorts with a simple confession ...I mean it cannot be easier...

"Tum se do lafzon mein...Tum se yeh kehna tha, 

tumse hi Mohabbat thi....Tumse hi mohabbat hai....

Tumse kehna hai ,Yun rehna hai Jab tak hai Jaan." 

Sweet

4.Ishq Shava- SRK says its his favorite...not mine though...The lyrics are not working for me.

5.Ishq dance- The music didn't do much for me here...Maybe Drums aren't my thing...would want to watch the leading lady do the the dance though..

6.Jiya re- the song is groovy...and I must say I like it more for Anoushka Sharma's Grooviness than the song in itself...great expressions...Loved the 'thoomkas'...reminds me of Jugni from Tanu weds Manu....Another Wow.

7.Heer - Gulzar's a genius for this one...had to go looking for the lyrics and the meaning but once I got that...I loved it...I was hooked...got over it though...when I found out how the Sahiba-Mirza love story ends...it's tragic...Far worse than Heer-Ranjha...Heer Ranjha couldn't be together but were bound eternally by Death but Sahiba and Mirza almost had it all...And she lost it...And there's no Right or Wrong...but I found it painful...I wonder if the movie ends that way...If it does...I'm going to weep.

Looking forward to the movie...I am sure I will love it...not because I like Love stories...I don't like most of the Mushy ones...(I like the practical and funny romantic comedies but the whole dard-ki-dastaan ritual does Not appeal to me)....but because I know its going to be something about life and the way it works...maybe a little too Dramatic but Yash Chopra puts in a lot of detail in the emotions and eventually makes you want to think...His movies don't have the perfect ending...Someone somewhere is left with an aching heart...Shows you that Life is not always fair...that destiny always has pain and happiness for everybody.

Of all the Yash Chopra movies I've seen (I've not seen all of his Directions)

Lamhe - was about unrequited Love (And not just between Anil and Sridevi but also that friend of his who hopes to receive his Love someday), Friendship, And about not giving up. Its an ode to love...its persistence, hopefulness, frustrations, confusions...Almost everything.

Chandni - Happiness in Love, about how an unsupportive family can further ruin a strained relationship , About Loss, Of finding Love anew..And I didn't like the ending so much here...Poor Vinod Khanna and his Mum too.

Dil toh Pagal Hai - Only one thing, Nisha Loved Rahul....Rahul didn't know a thing about Love until he met Pooja....I am sure Nisha thought that she could have won him had Pooja not come along and that's why the envy but She really loved Rahul....so must have had a tremendous heart ache...but Its not necessary that the ones you love in Life should Love you back too....Happens....I never liked Madhuri but she did what she had to....she acted well....And the story did make me question my concept of Happy endings for quite a while....And I was only a kid then.

Veer- Zaara- the movie didn't do much for me. Liked the music..Loved the story....but the whole Aisa Desh Hai mera and the Lohri song didn't sink in. Not one bit.

And now looking forward to Jab tak Hai Jaan...

P.S.- Since I'm not going to be able catch it right after the release...I swear I'm not looking at the reviews or the Story until I catch the Movie. No Spoilers for me...I'm not even going to check the Star ratings...I don't care....I am giving it 10/10....For Yash Chopra, SRK, Gulzar, Rahman, And for Love

To Shruti Singhal

Shruti Singhal.....Thank you for all your encouragement....You put me back in the groove.....And Yes....We're going to stop thinking....and we're going to do something worth our while.....and we'll still crib but we can't complain....:)